Da Rold 2020

Da Rold, Orietta. Paper in Medieval England: From Pulp to Fictions." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

opening line from Chaucer describing a horse as "paper-whit"

“Chaucer reads paper as a precious, beautiful and luxurious material, rather than a utilitarian, cheap and worthless surface, creating a surprising contrast for a modern reader who often expects medieval paper to be a serviceable writing tool.” (1)

"Chaucer evokes majesty with the glittering of the gold, the preciousness of stones and the brightness of light. Paper sharpens this effect, impressing upon the reader the idea that Dido is enveloped by light rather than by people. Chaucer uses paper as a reflective surface which enhances the beauty of the queen. He demonstrates that he had a good sense of the optical properties of paper and its ability to reflect light, as well as being aware of the effect. Of course, parchment reflects light too. It is intriguing to note, however, that Chaucer’s choice of comparison is white paper, a rough material. Physics explains that an uneven surface has the effect of a diffuse reflection; that is, the light hits the object and shines back in lots of different directions. A diffuse reflection would create the impression that Chaucer is evoking in these lines." (3)

"The way in which Chaucer imagines and uses paper is very different from the current scholarly understanding of what paper meant in the medieval period; indeed, this episode defies modern expectations of what paper ought to represent. Chaucer invites us to read paper as a sophisticated object, used here for skilful rhetorical effect, rather than a poor tool for writing." (4)

Interested in Latour, actor-network theory, but instead of agency interested in AFFORDANCE

"Modern readings of medieval sources often argue that medieval society was sceptical of paper and perceived it as a problematic material." (7)

"In the late medieval period, paper was a new material to which society needed to adjust. Sometimes it is accepted with scepticism; on other occasions it is embraced with enthusiasm. Nevertheless, its stable growth shows that what seem to be two opposite, almost polar, positions are often united and should invite modern scholars to think differently about paper. These positions also stress the need to reconsider the role of those countries, in this case England, which do not invest in papermaking until the late fifteenth century, but clearly have a role in the consumption of medieval paper." (7-8)

"Analysing the process by which paper became a cultural touchstone in the late medieval period requires scholars to shift the focus of their enquiry from paper as a writing or printing tool to paper as a commodity." (9)

"It is also important that any inquiry into the technology of paper is decoupled from post-medieval printing economies." (9)

can't distinguish print and manuscript to understand paper

"It is often argued that the use of paper in the late medieval period contributed to reducing the cost of books and thus enables the spread of literacy. But the extent to which this is true requires further analysis. Does paper fulfil a need or create one?" (10)

"It is, however, a fact that well before the craft of papermaking was established in these countries, regions and towns, the use of paper itself paved the way for its manufacture. In France, Italy and the Spanish peninsula, the importation of paper in response to demand preceded the foundation of the first paper mill by several years and even after the establishment of mills the two practices coexisted. It is the demand that interests me in my investigation." (11)

watermark albums of W. Y. Ottley, keeper of prints and drawings at British Museum -- tracings have never been published and are very little known

"I map out the uses of paper as a web of interrelated factors and pieces of evidence that explain the success of this technology in medieval culture. My own approach to this web of interrelated nodes defines paper as a cultural product with its own associations and, at the same time, as an instrumental material in defining that culture." (19)